I have never been to Australia and I haven't been to Britain since 1988, so I wonder whether anything has changed.

What are current pub hours and do they vary by location or day of week? Also, what are the rules about liquor purchase? It used to be that my city didn't allow liquor stores to open on Sundays but somehow this changed in the last year or two.

Australia here. Do you mean what the legal opening hours are? Because pubs themselves vary, each business owner decides when they want their business to be open. There are some restrictions in specific locations where bars/pubs/clubs must close by a certain time or can't accept new patrons after a certain time (e.g. "2am"), this is due to issues with alcohol-fuelled violence etc where the police are trying to control it somewhat. There are also some places where the liquor license for that specific venue has restrictions as to when they can serve or be open, for example if it were a pub in a quiet residential suburb the license might be subject to restrictions to prevent excessive noise and partying late at night.

The rules in general are fairly liberal. Can buy alcohol any day of the week assuming somewhere is open. It's Sunday afternoon and DH and I popped to the liquor store earlier for some beer, and on the way passed two busy pubs (nothing like a pub lunch on a hot sunny Sunday!) Many big liquor stores in my area will close earlier on Sundays (5pmish), but are open until 10pm/11pm etc on Thur-Fri-Sat as those are the busy nights for people to stock up. There are usually always smaller liquor stores attached to pubs that are open very late every night, but are more expensive.

To me the rules here seem restrictive, because I'm originally from New Zealand where wine and beer is sold in supermarkets. I liked that because I could buy along with groceries so it was less of a fuss. I always buy a bottle of wine at the supermarket when I'm back home visiting, just for the novelty factor!

In NYC supermarkets are permitted to sell "wine product" which is only 6% alcohol, half the normal percentage. Liquor stores can remain open until midnight; most open between 10AM and 12 Noon.

Bars cannot open until 12Noon on Sundays and are required to close at 4AM. They can open as early as 8AM on other days of the week. Most serve food although they can close the kitchen before midnight. This is probably very different elsewhere in the US.

Pub licensing hours in England and Wales (Scotland always has late opening) were relaxed a few years ago from the previous close at 11 and 10.30 on Sundays. Now, pubs can buy a license to serve whenever they want, if the local council is ok. You can buy alcohol from shops in the same way.

Plenty of pubs still do the previous hours though as it's expensive for them to buy the license.

England here. I have found in Nottingham that several pubs that bought this "late license" are now struggling financially as people just don't have the money to spend to stay out until the early hours of the morning. The places that did buy the license are places where there tends to be trouble with alcohol fuelled violence, and I typically refuse to go to such places. Our local pub closes at 11pm Sun - Thurs and 12 midnight Fri and Sat. That's more than late enough IMO because after midnight you get all the drunk people. My perspective has changed a little, but I am more than happy to go out to the local for a wine or two and then go home pretty early these days.

Most of my friends agree that the "noisy" places in town are almost always trouble spots. Even when I did go out on the town, there were places I avoided like the plague.

Does anyone else find this to be true or am I on my own here?

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My local is open until midnight on weekend nights and 11 on others, except for certain beer festivals and special events. I know they have a late license but generally chose not to exercise their right to stay open later because there is no particular demand for it and also because they are a small independent pub with no more than five staff.

I do not know about towns as I never go out in the evenings anywhere else really, but I think pubs in the nearest town are doing pretty well.

Technically, in the UK pubs can stay open 24 hours a day, however it is rare for any pub outside a large city centre to be granted a 24 hour licence. I live just outside a small city and when the new licencing laws came into effect most pubs and clubs there got their opening hours extended slightly, i.e. pubs would close at 12am instead of 11pm and the one club we have closed at 4am instead of 3am.

Supermarkets and shops can sell alcohol with a license. However, there is now a minimum price per unit that needs to be charged...the days of 6 cans of Stella for £4 are gone for good. It doesn't really make much difference to us - I go out one night a week and DF goes out a different night and we rarely buy wine to go with a meal from the local shop. I think minimum price is to deter binge drinkers.

I think our local shop is open till 11pm but I seem to think they stop serving booze at 10pm, as do most of the shops on this road. It is a largely Asian (Indian) community and their culture does not allow alcohol. Most of the shops on our road are independent stores, mostly run by Asians...I think this is a choice rather than any kind of law.

I actually like it - there is very little trouble in the area, and you don't get many drunk idiots causing trouble outside.

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Minimum pricing of alcohol is only in effect in Scotland as of now, but being proposed for the rest of the UK.

Aah, I thought it had started! Now you can see how often I buy alcohol from the shop lol!

Cheers

Not yet, and there's a lot of debate about it. I work for an organisation that is involved in the legislative consultation, hence I'm up on these things. We buy our wine through a wine club and make our own real ale, so no, not much alcohol buying for me either.

Texas law is that bars can be open till 2 a.m. Some neighborhoods are more restrictive. Liquor stores can only be open till 9 p.m., and must be closed Sundays. Beer and wine can be sold at grocers and convenience stores till midnight every night but Saturday, when they can sell till 1 a.m. because sales can't start up again till noon Sunday. I don't know how early they may start on other days, but it's certainly earlier.

Some cities and counties have much more restrictive rules.

Some places allow you to buy drive-through mixed drinks (margaritas or daiquiris, generally) as long as the container's technically closed (and thus not violating "open container" restrictions). It cracks me up and scares me at the same time. You're legally not allowed to drink and drive, though.

Here in the ACT clubs/bar/nightclubs can stay open until 4am. Liquor stores are governed by retail laws and can stay open until midnight, 7 days a week. Supermarkets can sell alcohol but you have to be over 18 to buy and/or sell it.

Scotland here. Our supermarkets are getting around the minimum pricing by letting people order online. Since the online face of the company has their head office in England, they are technically not breaking the law. The Scottish Parliament hates it. It's hilarious!

It's also odd to me that some cointries don't allow alcohol in supermarkets. Our local one sells everything from beer and cider, to absinthe.